What are The Best at Home Exercises for Seniors?
May 9, 2024
All seniors should do as much exercise as they can. Movement of any kind can help seniors keep their muscles strong and help them stay flexible. Activity can help seniors maintain their mobility and balance too.
But often seniors who are living alone at home don’t have the capability or the motivation to get out and exercise alone. Seniors who have trouble with their balance or who can’t move very well need to start with very basic exercises that they can do at home to improve their movement and be more active.
In-home care can help seniors who need support and motivation to be more active. With an in-home care provider to help seniors do exercises like these at home your mom or dad will enjoy moving more:
Seated Exercises
Seated exercises are ideal for seniors with limited mobility because seniors can do them while sitting in a chair or wheelchair. Seated exercises that are designed for seniors or others who have limited mobility focus on improving strength, flexibility, and circulation while reducing the risk of falls. Examples include seated marches, leg extensions, arm raises, seated side bends, and ankle circles.
Range of Motion Exercises
Range of motion exercises help seniors maintain or improve flexibility and joint mobility. These exercises typically involve gently moving the joints through their full range of motion to reduce stiffness and prevent contractures.
Examples include neck rotations, shoulder rolls, wrist curls, hip circles, and knee lifts. Seniors who regularly do range of motion exercises may find it easier to do things like lift themselves out of a chair, get into or out of bed, or walk up and down stairs.
Balance Exercises
Balance exercises are important for seniors with limited mobility to reduce the risk of falls and improve stability. But, it’s important that these exercises are done with an in-home care provider who can help your mom or dad so they don’t become dizzy or fall.
Balance exercises focus on strengthening the muscles involved in balance and coordination. Examples include standing on one leg while holding onto a sturdy surface for support, heel-to-toe walking, and standing with one foot directly in front of the other.
Strength Training Exercises
Strength training exercises help seniors build and maintain muscle mass, which is essential for supporting mobility and independence. These exercises can be performed using light weights, resistance bands, or just the body's own weight for resistance.
Examples include chair stands, wall push-ups, bicep curls with light weights or resistance bands, and seated rows. Seniors who have trouble gripping weights because of the shape can try doing strength training exercises with cans of vegetables or soup. The cans are larger, easier to grasp, and grooved.
Flexibility Exercises
Flexibility exercises help seniors maintain or improve the range of motion in their joints and muscles. These exercises involve gentle stretching movements that lengthen the muscles and improve flexibility. Flexibility exercises are also great for seniors during recovery after a hospital stay because they can help seniors recover their ability to move after being in bed for a long time.
Examples include seated forward bends, shoulder stretches, hamstring stretches, calf stretches, and chest stretches.
If you or your loved one is looking for In-Home Care in San Jose, CA, please call Familiar Surroundings Home Care.
Santa Clara County: (408) 979-9990
San Mateo County: (650) 353-9777
Santa Cruz County: (831) 480-3990